Manager, Product Development RTW - Cut & Sew & KnitwearPrimary PurposeThe Product Development Manager is responsible for leading the end-to-end product development process for Cut & Sew apparel and Knitwear (Sweaters) from initial design concept through bulk handoff. This role partners cross-functionally to deliver product that meets quality, costing, calendar, aesthetic, and material development objectives. The position is responsible for fabric development and sourcing support for Cut & Sew categories and yarn development and ordering for Knitwear. This role serves as a key partner to Design, Merchandising, Materials Management, and Technical Design to achieve seasonal product goals. Production ownership resides outside of Product Development
The successful individual will leverage their proficiency in Product Development to...- Lead product development for Cut & Sew and Knitwear categories across Runway, Runway Takedown, Collection, Multi-Channel, and Outlet businesses.
- Serve as a key cross-functional partner to Design, Merchandising, Materials Management, and Technical Design throughout the development lifecycle.
- Execute seasonal product development strategies and priorities established by the Director.
- Partner with Design to deliver product that achieves aesthetic intent while meeting quality, cost, and calendar objectives.
- Monitor seasonal development calendars and proactively manage milestone deliverables.
- Analyze Design Cards and coordinate development launch activities with internal cross-functional teams and external development partners.
- Coordinate distribution of development packages, materials, trims, yarns, and fabrics to sample facilities and development vendors.
- Manage the timely development and delivery of Prototype, Line Opening, Fit, and SMS samples.
- Coordinate workload, communication, and development direction with domestic and overseas development partners.
- Lead weekly Product Team Meetings, fittings, and cross-functional milestone reviews.
- Coordinate development meetings with Technical Design, Merchandising, Materials Management, and supplier partners to drive timely decision-making.
- Partner with cross-functional teams to create and maintain Bills of Material (BOMs) within PLM.
- Lead fabric development for Cut & Sew categories, partnering with mills and suppliers to develop fabrics that achieve design intent, quality standards, performance requirements, and target costs.
- Manage seasonal fabric development calendars, submissions, testing requirements, approvals, and fabric commitments.
- Partner closely with Materials Management to identify and develop new fabric opportunities and innovations.
- Lead yarn development activities for Knitwear, including yarn sourcing, submissions, approvals, and seasonal yarn strategy recommendations.
- Manage seasonal yarn ordering to support sampling and development timelines.
- Maintain fabric and yarn development tracking tools and communicate status, risks, and opportunities to cross-functional teams.
Costing & Business Management
- Create and maintain comprehensive seasonal costing charts, consolidating target costs, actual costs, material costs, supplier information, development milestones, and key business updates.
- Develop category costing strategies and establish seasonal style target costs in partnership with the Director.
- Collect, analyze, and negotiate garment, fabric, and yarn costs throughout the development process to achieve target cost objectives.
- Prepare detailed costing analyses and recommendations to support seasonal business decisions.
- Submit and maintain Working Costs within PLM throughout development milestones.
- Order seasonal sample yardage, development fabrics, yarns, and trims based on Design selections and development needs.
- Attend seasonal buy review meetings to support development planning, material commitments, and MOQ decisions.
- Support identification, onboarding, and development of new vendor, mill, and yarn supplier partnerships.
- Prepare seasonal development recaps and business analyses.
- Partner with Production, Sourcing, Materials Management, and external suppliers to ensure a seamless handoff from development into production."
QualificationsThe accomplished individual will possess...- 5+ years of experience in apparel product development with expertise in Cut & Sew and/or Knitwear categories.
- Experience developing fabrics, yarns, and materials with mills and suppliers.
- Strong understanding of garment costing, fabric costing, and yarn costing.
- Knowledge of knitwear construction, yarn specifications, gauges, and development processes.
- Ability to work in a collaborative team environment and communicate cross-functionally with all levels of the organization.
- Strong negotiation and influencing skills.
- Excellent organizational, project management, and problem-solving abilities.
- Advanced PLM, BOM management, Excel, and product development systems experience.
Our Competencies for All Employees- Drive for Results: Can be counted on to exceed goals successfully; is constantly and consistently one of the top performers; very bottom-line oriented; steadfastly pushes self and others for results.
- Customer Focus: Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers; gets first-hand customer information and uses it for improvements in products and services; acts with customers in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships with customers and gains their trust and respect.
- Creativity: Comes up with a lot of new and unique ideas; easily makes connections among previously unrelated notions; tends to be seen as original and value-added in brainstorming settings.
- Interpersonal Savvy: Relates well to all kinds of people, up, down, and sideways, inside and outside the organization; builds appropriate rapport; builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact; can diffuse even high-tension situations comfortably.
- Learning on the Fly: Learns quickly when facing new problems; a relentless and versatile learner; open to change; analyzes both successes and failures for clues to improvement; experiments and will try anything to find solutions; enjoys the challenge of unfamiliar tasks; quickly grasps the essence and the underlying structure of anything.
- Perseverance: Pursues everything with energy, drive, and a need to finish; seldom gives up before finishing, especially in the face of resistance or setbacks.
- Dealing with Ambiguity: Can effectively cope with change; can shift gears comfortably; can decide and act without having the total picture; isn't upset when things are up in the air; doesn't have to finish things before moving on; can comfortably handle risk and uncertainty.
Our Competencies for All People Managers- Strategic Agility: Sees ahead clearly; can anticipate future consequences and trends accurately; has broad knowledge and perspective; is future oriented; can articulately paint credible pictures and visions of possibilities and likelihoods; can create competitive and breakthrough strategies and plans.
- Building Effective Teams: Blends people into teams when needed; creates strong morale
and spirit in his/her team; shares wins and successes; fosters open dialogue; lets people finish and be responsible for their work; defines success in terms of the whole team; creates a feeling of belonging in the team. - Managerial Courage: Doesn't hold back anything that needs to be said; provides current, direct, complete, and "actionable" positive and corrective feedback to others; lets people know where they stand; faces up to people problems on any person or situation (not including direct reports) quickly and directly; is not afraid to take negative action when necessary.
Base Pay Range$90,000.00-$100,000.00
Here are some of the benefits that we offer: Medical insurance, Dental insurance, Vision insurance, 401 (K), Paid Paternity and Maternity leave, Commuter Benefits, Disability insurance and Tuition assistance. Please click here for a complete list of U.S Corporate Compensation & Benefits.
